Tag / Throbbing Gristle

On Friday night I went to see Leaether Strip perform at the Santos Party House in the China Town section of New York City. In 1989 and 1990 I purchased two LS albums The Pleasure Of Penetration and Science For The Satanic Citizen. That was a great time of music and LS wasn’t close to the best of the bunch but there were songs like Touchdown Breakdown and Flight 232 that I put on my mixtapes. I have some fond memories of my brother and I screaming the LS song “Go Fuck Your Ass Off” basically making fun of LS in general. It’s probably that memory alone that made go to this concert. When I arrived I was surprised to a healthy group of people wearing black outside. I’ve never been to Santos Party House before. It was the perfect venue for a concert like this. It’s a small space with a stage, one bar and DJ booths on the other side of the room. The layout, black walls and properly pink and blue lighting made the night feel 80sesque. I read an article about the opening band Hirsute Pursuit stating it was an exciting subserve gay sex industrial act. I liked the music but I lived in Chelsea for 10 years and I saw more risqué interactions at my local New York Sports Club. I realized this is music for people who never have sex at all. I taunted the lead singer a bit so he decided he would give me a whip. I tried to help him along sticking my ass out but he still missed and what did hit my leg felt like feathers more than a punishment. I was glad to hear DJ Stalagmike take over the music. I danced and had a chance to meet P-Orridge from Throbbing Gristle and Physic TV. Finally Leaether Strip took the stage. Claus Larsen who IS the band doesn’t look like he used to. In fact these days he’s a spitting image of Michael Chiklis the star from the TV show the shield (link). He stood in front and sang to what was surely prerecorded music. An older guy who later someone told me was Claus’s husband was on keyboards far the the back of the stage. You can tell Claus has been doing this for decades as he is a good performer. I wasn’t expecting much and while the show was better than I thought I think I only heard one song from the albums I own. 6/10. To see the full set of photos: click here

“Leaether Strip is the work of Danish electronic dance artist Claus Larsen. Discovered by the German techno artist and producer Talla 2XLC (Bigod 20), Leæther Strip quickly built a buzz as one of the young acts in Europe in the early 90’s. His debut release in 1990 was the album “The Pleasure of Penetration”. By the time of Leaether Strip’s third release, Solitary Confinement, the act also was released in the United States.” – Discogs.com